BASEBALL: Cecil and the Blue Jays make L.A. look as weary as it was on road trip.

By Doug Padilla Correspondent

ANAHEIM – Not even the latest round of lineup changes could get the Angels inspired in their return home Monday.

The Angels followed a lackluster trip with a sleepy home opener as they were thoroughly handcuffed, collecting three hits in a 6-0 loss to left-hander Brett Cecil and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Unable to establish an identity, unless being a team with a struggling bullpen counts, the Angels have plodded along waiting for the results to match the expectations.

John Lackey and Chone Figgins are gone now, but the Angels didn’t expect a setback so pronounced that they are likely to head into June with a record below .500.

“Overall we’re playing at a higher level but not at the consistency where we need to make strides and take off like we did last year,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’re still searching for it, still grinding it out. I think we’re very optimistic about the upside of this team but you have to start moving forward at some point.”

The just-completed trip was the Angels in summary this season. They were swept in a brief two-game series in Texas, got some momentum with two victories in Chicago against the White Sox only to go to St. Louis where they lost two of three.

Coming home wasn’t the answer, but it isn’t like Angel Stadium has been a safe haven. The Angels are 12-12 in their own park, while division leaders Texas and Oakland are both nine games over .500 at home.

Hideki Matsui was dropped into the No. 7 hole, the farthest he has fallen this season.

Juan Rivera was bumped up to the No.6 spot, but the only sniff of production they had over the first seven innings was Kevin Frandsen’s third-inning single off Cecil. Frandsen was batting ninth.

Their only other baserunner came on Kendry Morales’ walk to lead off the fifth, until Matsui delivered the Angels’ second hit with a single in the eighth inning. Torii Hunter had an infield hit in the ninth.

Cecil had two walks and three strikeouts to go with two hits allowed over 7 1/3 scoreless innings.

Things finally got out of hand in the seventh inning when the Blue Jays scored four runs against three different pitchers to take a 6-0 lead.

Joe Saunders, coming off three consecutive standout starts, was fighting his control Monday. He walked five batters over 6 1/3 innings but had given up only two runs when he left with a runner on base in the seventh.

The bullpen struggles continued when Jason Bulger failed to get an out and gave up three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk. He also allowed the inherited runner from Saunders to score.

Bobby Cassevah wasn’t much better with two walks in the inning.

“Right now it’s been baby steps,” Scioscia said. “We start to move forward, then we take a step back. We need to bring it every night to give ourselves a chance to win, and hopefully we’ll start to see that.”

Getting things started against the Blue Jays figures to be a difficult proposition. Toronto is 17-8 since April 29, the best record in the American League over that time and second to the Dodgers (17-6) in the major leagues.

The Blue Jays have won eight of their past 12 games and 15 of their past 22. The Angels, meanwhile, are 9-14 in the month of May.

“Right now we’re a little limited with some of the things we can do,” Scioscia said. “And some things we have a lot of confidence in, some of the players that might not be in their game right now. They will play better.

“There are some positives there but as a team we aren’t as deep as we need to be.”

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